Air Force funds solar array to increase energy savings

  • Published
  • By Jess Echerri
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Office of the Secretary of Defense granted $6.2 million to the National Guard Bureau for the 154th Wing of the Hawaii Air National Guard, or HIANG, to develop solar arrays that are projected to maximize use of renewable energy sources at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center recommended the project be funded through the Energy Conservation Investment Program, which provides funding for energy projects that resulting in lower utility costs.

"The purpose of this project is to reduce the energy cost for the Hawaii Air National Guard," said Capt. Nhut Dao, chief of engineering for the 154th Civil Engineering Squadron. "On average, the HIANG pays $8 million per year in energy costs."

Energy conservation and minimal environmental impacts were top considerations in the design and construction of facilities for the F-22A bed-down at JBPHH. The Air National Guard followed U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program criteria to ensure all new buildings were designed and constructed to be energy-efficient and meet LEED certification requirements.

"We wanted to go with renewables from the very beginning," said Jesus Figueroa, HIANG project manager. "We rolled in that effort as part of our LEED process, so every building was being designed to be certified silver for LEED, at a minimum."

The HIANG F-22 squadron operations building and aircraft maintenance unit hangar saw a dramatic efficiency increase following LEED guidelines, Figueroa said. Low-flow plumbing fixtures reduced water use by 47 percent annually and, with these buildings alone, the HIANG will have estimated annual energy savings of 72 percent. Using photovoltaic solar cells to generate electricity, these buildings are also the first to achieve a net-zero operating capability, meaning the energy they generate locally is equal to or more than the energy they need to operate.

"Incorporation of the photovoltaic solar cells is to target net-zero for a campus of buildings, which is the first of its kind in the Air Force," Figueroa said.

Figueroa hopes all of the base's facilities will be operating at a net-zero capability in the future. To achieve this goal, the HIANG is teaming with the Air Force Research Lab, based out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to identify different renewable energy technologies.

"It started out as a return on investment idea," Figueroa said. "Now, it's not only about money, it's about national security. If hackers shut down the grid, we have no power. If we have no power, things get very problematic."

The traditional scheme of energy usage involves using locally-generated power as a secondary or back-up source. The JBPHH team is attempting to turn that scheme upside down by using power generated on the installation for all energy consumption and only using power from the city's grid as needed.

"We want to demonstrate to the world and to the Department of Defense that we can be self-sustaining with renewables," Figueroa said. "Our enemies can shut down the grid, but they can't shut down the sun."